Down With the Sickness.
Chapter Nine.
It had been around a week since the whole incident with Bam, and honestly, I'd been avoiding him like the plague. Why did he do it? What did he expect me to do? Just lay there and let him kiss me like he meant it? He couldn't mean it, his wife died by my hand and he was all of a sudden all over me! It just didn't make sense. I was thinking about all this in bed, Ashley and Brooklyn snoring loudly on either side of me. I tried my best to climb out of the bed without waking them. Once I'd successfully made my way out of the bed I did a slight victory dance before stretching and making my way down the stairs and into the kitchen. I looked at the clock on the wall and groaned softly when I saw the time read around 6:37 am. I manoeuvred my way around the kitchen effortlessly as I collected all the necessities to make a strong, black coffee. As soon as the liquid was mixed together I put in a small amount of cold water before taking a big gulp, the drink burning the back of my throat slightly as it slid down. I heard quiet footsteps down the way and rolled my eyes softly, I just couldn't seem to get a break in this house! I looked to my side and sighed when I saw April standing there gathering the things to make her own coffee. She looked at me and smiled softly.
"It's nice to have another early riser in the house, these boys could sleep all day if I let them." She stated and I smiled softly with a small chuckle.
"Even during the zombie apocalypse you can't get a man to change." I said and April let out a loud laugh.
"Nope, definitely not my Phil and Bam, an earthquake could happen right now, they still wouldn't wake up!" We laughed and talked for a few more minutes before everything went quiet. I felt the tension rising in the air and knew April was going to mention something I wouldn't like.
"So.. What's happening with you and my son?" She asked and I sighed as I looked down at the wooden table I was sitting at, at some point we'd moved to the dining table.
"I don't know Ape, I think he's really confused at the moment. I mean, his wife just died! He couldn't like me in that way." I said and April smiled sadly as she took hold of my hand.
"Honey, they hadn't been together in a really long time. I think he still cared about her, and that's the reason why she was here. But he stopped loving Missy a long, long time ago. Sure, her death was sad and everyone needed the time to grieve but in a world like this, you have to keep living. And at the moment, you're keeping him alive." She said and I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes. What April was saying was everything I wanted to hear, but I couldn't believe it, could I?
"I appreciate what you're saying, Ape. But that couldn't possibly be true. I like him, I really, really do. But I'm not being his rebound. He just lost his wife, I couldn't believe that he was already looking for a new relationship." I stated and I looked up at April to see her looking behind me. I turned to see Bam standing there, his expression unreadable.
"I'll leave you two alone." April said as she squeezed my hand and walked out of the dining area. Bam took her place and looked down at the table.
"My Mom was right, I hadn't loved Missy for a very long time. She was just there because, well, you can't exactly get a divorce right now." He said with a soft sigh and a light chuckle. "I was only upset about her death because she was my best friend, not my wife. And, I do like you. You make everything seem better in this fucked up world. I know I shouldn't think that when my wife died not long ago, but I can't help how I feel about you Payton." He said and I sighed as I placed my head into my hands. Why did this happen to me?
"You honestly can't expect me to just run into your arms. I have my doubts and what person wouldn't right now! Maybe eventually Bam, something might happen with us, but right now? I can't handle that and neither can you." I stated and he sighed before shrugging.
"I'm not going to keep repeating myself. I know what I want and you've given me hope, so I'm still going to keep trying to win you over." He stated and with that he stood up and left the table, leaving me with my own thoughts.
The next day, the tension had finally lifted slightly. When everyone was finally awake, we sat in the living room, wondering what we could do for the day.
"We could do with going on another run. We're running out of food and a pharmacy run would be helpful too." I stated and everyone looked at me strangely. "I'm a girl. Us girls need things that boys don't like talking about." I stated and they all grimaced before looking away.
"I'll come with you." Bam stated as he looked at me and I nodded as I walked away to get ready for the dangerous task ahead. I placed on the bullet proof clothing used for food runs and placed my combat boots on over the top. Eventually Bam, Steve-O, Johnny, Rake, Raab, Dico, Pontius and Dave were all stood around me in their bullet proof gear, ready to go.
"Okay guys, the place where we usually go is more than likely empty now. So a little further on there's a supermarket with a pharmacy across the street. Me and Pay will go look in the pharmacy and everyone else will be all hands on deck at the store. Got it?" He asked and everyone nodded. The pharmacy would only be small so it made sense for only us to go. "Right, lets fill up the cars and get the fuck out of here." He stated and everyone walked off to do what they were told to do. Bam just stayed their staring at me. "You be careful out there, you hear me?" He asked and I nodded with a small smile.
"You too, Bam." I said and he nodded before making his way out of the door. I sighed and pulled at one of the braids I had in my hair as Brooke and Ash walked over to me and pulled me into a big hug.
"Please be careful and come back in one piece." Brooke whispered and I sighed as I kissed the top of both their heads.
"I'm always careful." I said with a smirk and their lips twitched lightly in a small smile. I gave them one last hug before walking out the door. Everyone was crowded around two big cars, filling them up with petrol. I grabbed my baseball bat that was laid against the side of the house and felt for the large knife that was stuffed through a loop in my bullet proof gear. I screamed 'shotgun!' before climbing into the passenger seat of Bams car. I heard everyone groan in annoyance and I chuckled to myself as I played with the cracked nail vanish on my over grown nails. I really had to ask Bam if he had anything to cut them with. Around five minutes later everyone was finished and they all climbed into their designated cars. Steve-O and Pontius were in our car and everyone else piled into the other SUV. Bam instantly started the car and we were on our way. It was around forty minutes when we reached our destination, it was a lot longer than the last one and my legs were screaming in protest. As soon as the vehicle was stopped, I jumped out and started to work on killing the twelve or so monsters that were roaming the street. Everyone got out quickly and soon started helping me. I shoved the blade of my knife into the back of the last walkers head and sighed as it fell off, landing to the ground with a thud. Bam motioned for me to follow him into the small building while the others went to the store across the street. We entered the pharmacy and instantly started looking around, to be honest, the store wasn't in bad condition. I looked at the rows and was happy to find it had hardly been ransacked at all. I grabbed a few boxes of tampons and stuffed them into my bag before finding some shampoo and conditioner. I stuffed those also into my bag before looking further down and grabbing anything we might need in the future. Toothbrushes, toothpaste and all that jazz. I walked over to Bam and saw him looking at all the male products. I rolled my eyes, he was worse than a girl! I walked into the back section of the store and started looking through the wide range of painkillers and antibiotics. I grabbed as many as I could and stuffed them into the front pocket of my backpack. I felt someone behind me and instantly reached for my knife. I felt hands on my hips and I turned abruptly to find my knife touching the bulletproof vest of Bam. He smiled before pushing my knife back down to my side.
"Jesus Christ, Bam! I could have hurt you!" I exclaimed quietly and he simply chuckled as he pounded on his chest.
"You couldn't. This thing is impenetrable." He stated and I rolled my eyes.
"Is your bare neck impenetrable, too? I swear to god Bam, if you ever do anything like that again, I'll make sure I hit something." I said, my eyes showing just how pissed off I was. I placed my knife back into my belt loop and placed my hands on his chest as I tried to shove him away from me. He wouldn't budge. He smiled softly and placed his large hands over mine that were placed on his chest.
"Come on, Payton. You can't deny this." He said and I sighed as I lowered my head, my eyes closing.
"What do you want from me? I can't give you what you want me too, Bam. Not right now." I said and made the biggest mistake of my life. I looked up into his eyes and saw the sadness lying beneath them.
"I don't want anything like that from you. I just want you to let me try. That's all I'm asking! Is that so hard?" He asked and I sighed as I shook my head.
"I guess not." I said with a small smile and he grinned in return. I turned from him to carry on looting and I heard him do the same behind me. That's when we heard it, the loud groan of the undead. I looked around frantically but it was too late, it's skeletal fingers had already grabbed a hold of my braid and was yanking me towards it's mouth.
"It's nice to have another early riser in the house, these boys could sleep all day if I let them." She stated and I smiled softly with a small chuckle.
"Even during the zombie apocalypse you can't get a man to change." I said and April let out a loud laugh.
"Nope, definitely not my Phil and Bam, an earthquake could happen right now, they still wouldn't wake up!" We laughed and talked for a few more minutes before everything went quiet. I felt the tension rising in the air and knew April was going to mention something I wouldn't like.
"So.. What's happening with you and my son?" She asked and I sighed as I looked down at the wooden table I was sitting at, at some point we'd moved to the dining table.
"I don't know Ape, I think he's really confused at the moment. I mean, his wife just died! He couldn't like me in that way." I said and April smiled sadly as she took hold of my hand.
"Honey, they hadn't been together in a really long time. I think he still cared about her, and that's the reason why she was here. But he stopped loving Missy a long, long time ago. Sure, her death was sad and everyone needed the time to grieve but in a world like this, you have to keep living. And at the moment, you're keeping him alive." She said and I couldn't help the tears that escaped my eyes. What April was saying was everything I wanted to hear, but I couldn't believe it, could I?
"I appreciate what you're saying, Ape. But that couldn't possibly be true. I like him, I really, really do. But I'm not being his rebound. He just lost his wife, I couldn't believe that he was already looking for a new relationship." I stated and I looked up at April to see her looking behind me. I turned to see Bam standing there, his expression unreadable.
"I'll leave you two alone." April said as she squeezed my hand and walked out of the dining area. Bam took her place and looked down at the table.
"My Mom was right, I hadn't loved Missy for a very long time. She was just there because, well, you can't exactly get a divorce right now." He said with a soft sigh and a light chuckle. "I was only upset about her death because she was my best friend, not my wife. And, I do like you. You make everything seem better in this fucked up world. I know I shouldn't think that when my wife died not long ago, but I can't help how I feel about you Payton." He said and I sighed as I placed my head into my hands. Why did this happen to me?
"You honestly can't expect me to just run into your arms. I have my doubts and what person wouldn't right now! Maybe eventually Bam, something might happen with us, but right now? I can't handle that and neither can you." I stated and he sighed before shrugging.
"I'm not going to keep repeating myself. I know what I want and you've given me hope, so I'm still going to keep trying to win you over." He stated and with that he stood up and left the table, leaving me with my own thoughts.
The next day, the tension had finally lifted slightly. When everyone was finally awake, we sat in the living room, wondering what we could do for the day.
"We could do with going on another run. We're running out of food and a pharmacy run would be helpful too." I stated and everyone looked at me strangely. "I'm a girl. Us girls need things that boys don't like talking about." I stated and they all grimaced before looking away.
"I'll come with you." Bam stated as he looked at me and I nodded as I walked away to get ready for the dangerous task ahead. I placed on the bullet proof clothing used for food runs and placed my combat boots on over the top. Eventually Bam, Steve-O, Johnny, Rake, Raab, Dico, Pontius and Dave were all stood around me in their bullet proof gear, ready to go.
"Okay guys, the place where we usually go is more than likely empty now. So a little further on there's a supermarket with a pharmacy across the street. Me and Pay will go look in the pharmacy and everyone else will be all hands on deck at the store. Got it?" He asked and everyone nodded. The pharmacy would only be small so it made sense for only us to go. "Right, lets fill up the cars and get the fuck out of here." He stated and everyone walked off to do what they were told to do. Bam just stayed their staring at me. "You be careful out there, you hear me?" He asked and I nodded with a small smile.
"You too, Bam." I said and he nodded before making his way out of the door. I sighed and pulled at one of the braids I had in my hair as Brooke and Ash walked over to me and pulled me into a big hug.
"Please be careful and come back in one piece." Brooke whispered and I sighed as I kissed the top of both their heads.
"I'm always careful." I said with a smirk and their lips twitched lightly in a small smile. I gave them one last hug before walking out the door. Everyone was crowded around two big cars, filling them up with petrol. I grabbed my baseball bat that was laid against the side of the house and felt for the large knife that was stuffed through a loop in my bullet proof gear. I screamed 'shotgun!' before climbing into the passenger seat of Bams car. I heard everyone groan in annoyance and I chuckled to myself as I played with the cracked nail vanish on my over grown nails. I really had to ask Bam if he had anything to cut them with. Around five minutes later everyone was finished and they all climbed into their designated cars. Steve-O and Pontius were in our car and everyone else piled into the other SUV. Bam instantly started the car and we were on our way. It was around forty minutes when we reached our destination, it was a lot longer than the last one and my legs were screaming in protest. As soon as the vehicle was stopped, I jumped out and started to work on killing the twelve or so monsters that were roaming the street. Everyone got out quickly and soon started helping me. I shoved the blade of my knife into the back of the last walkers head and sighed as it fell off, landing to the ground with a thud. Bam motioned for me to follow him into the small building while the others went to the store across the street. We entered the pharmacy and instantly started looking around, to be honest, the store wasn't in bad condition. I looked at the rows and was happy to find it had hardly been ransacked at all. I grabbed a few boxes of tampons and stuffed them into my bag before finding some shampoo and conditioner. I stuffed those also into my bag before looking further down and grabbing anything we might need in the future. Toothbrushes, toothpaste and all that jazz. I walked over to Bam and saw him looking at all the male products. I rolled my eyes, he was worse than a girl! I walked into the back section of the store and started looking through the wide range of painkillers and antibiotics. I grabbed as many as I could and stuffed them into the front pocket of my backpack. I felt someone behind me and instantly reached for my knife. I felt hands on my hips and I turned abruptly to find my knife touching the bulletproof vest of Bam. He smiled before pushing my knife back down to my side.
"Jesus Christ, Bam! I could have hurt you!" I exclaimed quietly and he simply chuckled as he pounded on his chest.
"You couldn't. This thing is impenetrable." He stated and I rolled my eyes.
"Is your bare neck impenetrable, too? I swear to god Bam, if you ever do anything like that again, I'll make sure I hit something." I said, my eyes showing just how pissed off I was. I placed my knife back into my belt loop and placed my hands on his chest as I tried to shove him away from me. He wouldn't budge. He smiled softly and placed his large hands over mine that were placed on his chest.
"Come on, Payton. You can't deny this." He said and I sighed as I lowered my head, my eyes closing.
"What do you want from me? I can't give you what you want me too, Bam. Not right now." I said and made the biggest mistake of my life. I looked up into his eyes and saw the sadness lying beneath them.
"I don't want anything like that from you. I just want you to let me try. That's all I'm asking! Is that so hard?" He asked and I sighed as I shook my head.
"I guess not." I said with a small smile and he grinned in return. I turned from him to carry on looting and I heard him do the same behind me. That's when we heard it, the loud groan of the undead. I looked around frantically but it was too late, it's skeletal fingers had already grabbed a hold of my braid and was yanking me towards it's mouth.